New in our buyer's guide: The Gear VR controller and lots of audio gear

LG's Optimus G followup to feature a Snapdragon 800 CPU

LG and Qualcomm have enjoyed a close relationship for mobile phone chips, and it appears that will continue with the next Optimus G device, which is due in Q3. A press release tonight promises it will feature a Snapdragon 800 CPU for "the ultimate mobile experience" -- a claim benchmarks seem to back up. Qualcomm says the new 800 chip can best the original Optimus G's S4 Pro by "up to 75 percent" in performance, although what may be more interesting is how this aligns with a LS980 handset that recently leaked on Sprint's website. The release also highlights the new chip's ability to use LTE Advanced carrier aggregation for even faster bandwidth speeds, so while a Galaxy S 4 variant may deliver the feature first, it probably won't be alone for long.

Show full PR text

LG, QUALCOMM EXPAND SUCCESSFUL COLLABORATION WITH NEXT G SERIES SMARTPHONE

Successor to Original G Series to Feature Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 Processor for the Ultimate Mobile Experience

SAN DIEGO, June 19, 2013 - Expanding on a collaboration with a proven track record of success, LG Electronics, Inc. (LG), Qualcomm Incorporated, and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., today announced that the successor to the award-winning LG Optimus will utilize Qualcomm Snapdragon™ 800 processor, the industry's most advanced mobile chipset. Qualcomm Snapdragon is a product of Qualcomm Technologies, Inc.

LG's G series device powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processors will redefine the smartphone experience through stunning performance, rich graphics and outstanding battery efficiency. Capable of carrier aggregation, the Snapdragon 800 processor is designed to allow LTE to be even faster by maximizing spectrum bandwidth to increase data speeds and reduce latency.

"With a powerful combination of LG's core smartphone technologies and the Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor, we are taking a significant step forward in the mobile experience," said Dr. Jong-seok Park, president and CEO of LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company. "The result of this collaboration will in many ways be the industry's best smartphone by which all other devices will be measured."

"We are pleased with continued collaboration with LG," said Murthy Renduchintala, executive vice president, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. and co-president, Qualcomm mobile and computing. "Fully tailored and tightly integrated with the entire next G series platform, the new, best-in-class Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor will help deliver blazing fast web browsing, eye-popping graphics, seamless connectivity as well as an unmatched multimedia experience."

Delivering up to 75 percent better performance than the Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro processor, the Snapdragon 800 processor will feature many of the industry's leading technologies for the ultimate mobile experience, including:

• Higher speeds with Krait 400 CPUs in quad configuration to deliver greater processing and communication performance;• Enhanced aSMP (asynchronous Symmetric Multiprocessing) architecture for dynamic power sensing and control for peak performance per core and improved battery life without the use of specialized cores;• Fully integrated connectivity with a wide variety of communication options including 4G LTE Advanced Carrier Aggregation;• New Adreno™ 330 GPU delivering more than two times better performance for compute applications over the current Adreno 320 GPU;• Video capture, playback and display in Ultra HD format, four times higher density than 1080p HD;• HD multichannel audio with DTS-HD and Dolby Digital Plus, supporting higher display resolutions up to 2560 x 2048 pixels and Miracast 1080p HD; and• Qualcomm IZat Location technology, featuring GNSS for more accurate navigation and location services.